A Great Plan with a Hint of Blackmail
by Sorceress Myst
Summary: ...Those meddling worms... An AlbelNel one-shot that may be sweet enough to give you cavities.


A Great Plan with a Hint of Blackmail

By: Sorceress Myst

Throughout Albel's life after the Ascension of the Flame, he never thought of anyone as anything else but a worm, maggot, or fool. Well, at least until he met a certain red haired Crimson Blade. Sure, it was easy enough to call Nel a fool back then and he could admit having a small pleasure out of criticizing her fighting abilities or just plain insulting her to get on her nerves. Back then, when they first met, all she was to him was Aquarian scum and an enemy to Airyglyph and after the war was over, she was still Aquarian scum. But after traveling other worlds with that worm (Fayt) and the other maggots, he found that he couldn't call her names anymore. What ever it was, it hit him like a large Crosell sized rock. It was like he got up one morning and suddenly she seemed more attractive to him. Of course Albel thought it was only a temporary crush, one that he would get over in a couple of days, but he soon found out how wrong he was.

It had started when he began calling her 'Zelpher' (sometimes 'Nel' when they were alone) instead of 'maggot'. No one else seemed to mind or think it was the sign of the apocalypse. The fools probably thought he was mocking her since she always referred to him by his last name. Then he began to act differently in battle. He was still fighting like he usually did, destroying the enemies like the maggots they were, but he made sure to stay near Nel so he could be there to help her should she ever be overwhelmed in battle. There were also times when she stood beside him and he would feel a bit overheated as he desperately fought the urge to run his good hand through her red hair or casually slip an arm around her waist and pull her closer to him. Albel was sure the worms' eyebrows would raise and their jaws would drop to the ground if he ever did that.

The maggots seemed to notice his special treatment of Nel after he learned runology. They wanted Albel to learn runology so he could be an even better asset to the team, but he refused vehemently because he knew he didn't need it. He was the best swordsman in Airyglyph; he had no use for those pointless spells. Everyone was about to give up on the idea until Nel tried to convince him. He wanted to yell at her and tell her that runology was stupid, but ended up facing another direction and muttered "Bah.", a clear sign that he lost the argument. After that, Nel personally taught him how to cast some spells and helped him engrave some symbols in his claw. Albel the Wicked quickly discovered that he could defeat enemies more efficiently through runology, but what caught the fools' attention was when he would only use healing spells on Nel and then allow Nel, and no one else, to heal him when he was injured.

The point is that Albel Nox now knew for sure that he was head over heels in love with Nel Zelpher and every maggot on the Diplo, except Nel, knew it. Albel knew the worms were going to stick their noses in it and try to help. He just knew it. His suspicions were confirmed when the fools discreetly snuck off to hold a secret meeting. Unfortunately, they seemed to be well prepared because every time he got close enough to listen in on their plans, one of the maggots would come out, greet him, and then send him away with a task to complete.

(Inside the Conference Room)

"And that is our master plan," Cliff announced proudly to the others after Marietta sent Albel away for the third time.

"This is so exciting!" Sophia giggled as she glanced at Fayt, who seemed to be off in his little world yet again.

"This is good timing. We were beginning to run out of rooms for everyone," Steeg added while setting up a computer program he just pulled up.

"I don't know about this, guys," Fayt finally said as he stood up, "What if they find out? What if they get into a fight and kill each other?"

"Oh…I have a hunch everything will be okay," everyone groaned before Cliff continued, "Besides, we'd probably only have to worry about what Nel would do should lover boy try to pull a fast one."

"Not another 'hunch'…" Fayt complained as Cliff shrugged.

"Say what you want, but my hunches are always right."

"Oh really? What about that time with the asteroid?" Maria asked with a smirk. Her only response from him was an open mouthed stare in her direction until he pulled away from the table.

"You people are so cruel! That was one time. ONE time!"

"Sure Cliff. Whatever you say," Mirage chuckled, earning a sigh of defeat from him.

Maria checked the scanners one last time before she got out of her seat, "Now that the plan is in motion, we might as well go ahead and call it a day."

"That's probably a good idea. Lancar and Lieber can only keep Albel busy for so long," Mirage agreed as Sophia yawned. Sophia then rose up from her seat and headed for the door.

"I'm getting sleepy…," Sophia said while dragging the still reluctant Fayt with her. Maria followed them.

"I think I'll go to bed early tonight. Here, I'll show you to your rooms," Maria offered before facing Marietta, "Could you go find Nel and Albel and show them their room?"

"Of course," she nodded and started to leave.

"Uh…I'll be there in a minute to help you out," Cliff said before the door opened, "I know those two will put up quite a fight by the time they figure it out."

Soon everyone else began leaving until Cliff and Mirage were the only ones left. Cliff sat down and let out a loud yawn.

"So do you think the plan will work?" he inquired with a sideways glance. She smiled sweetly and shrugged.

"What happened to your hunch?"

"I know my hunch is right, but this was _your_ plan. For all we know, they could just stand in the middle of their room and freeze to death. There are both known to be stubborn."

"So that's what you think, huh? Care to place a friendly bet on this?" she asked as a mischievous look formed on her face.

(Back to Albel)

Albel knew he should have prepared for the worst when he returned from his recent chore. The maggot (Marietta) said that they had run out of rooms and that he had to share with someone. What she didn't mention was that he had to share a room with Nel. When the door slid open, he came face to face with someone who was as equally shocked and angry as he was. After that, they had both spent over 30 minutes arguing with the maggot (Marietta) about the arrangements until the large worm (Cliff) showed up with a dopey grin on his face. How that oaf managed to end the argument and win was far beyond the corners of Albel's mind, but the important thing was that he and Nel lost and they had to share a room together. And the room they had to share happened to have only one bed. So for another 30 minutes, they argued with each other on who would get sleep in the bed.

This time Albel was victorious in the argument. And so there he sat in the chair in front of the computer terminal as he watched Nel sleep comfortably in the bed. It amazed him at how fast she was able to fall asleep. True, she was most likely a light sleeper from her spying days and she probably had weapons hidden under her pillow, but even someone as trusting as that sentimental fool (Fayt) couldn't trust him enough to fall asleep when he was in the room. Well, at least not on the first night. A shudder racked through his slender frame as he felt the temperature in the room drop. He recalled in the back of his mind that the worms had warned them that there was something wrong with some device called a 'heater' and that they were going to shut it off for the night to repair it, making their room get as cold as the coldest night in Airyglyph.

Trying to ignore the cold, Albel shifted his gaze back to Nel as she turned in her sleep. He now had a clear view of her face in the dim light of the room. She looked peaceful with her red hair tousled across part of her face and the rest fanned about her pillow. He felt his good hand twitch as he once again resisted the urge to walk over to her and brush the hair away from her face. He fought back a growl of frustration and quickly shifted his vision to the nearest wall. Why was he so fascinated with her hair? It made her stand out in crowds. It was amazing that she was never caught in Airyglyph before. Red hair was rare in his country and the color of hers was so vibrant. He always did like the shades of red. It was the color of blood, the color of his eyes…the color of his father's eyes…

He let the thought stop there. He did not want to reminisce about the past, at least not now. Somehow, Albel's eyes had drifted back to the slumbering form on the bed without him realizing it. There was another question about her that always plagued his mind. Why her? There were plenty of beautiful Glyphian women to choose from so why did he have to fall for that Aquarian wench? He knew the answer to that a long time ago, but he still found himself asking it. Chances were that Albel would strangle any woman that approached him because they were boring, they talked too much about nothing, and they were weak. There was nothing he despised more than the weak. Nel, however, was strong enough to handle herself in battle, though he'd probably tell her that she was weak-minded just to infuriate her. She was less annoying than any woman he ever known and was fun to talk to, although they would end up fighting in the end because of Albel's choice of words. She was also quick to anger unlike most noble women in Airyglyph's court and he absolutely loved that fire in her eyes when he struck a nerve. It made her more challenging when they sparred.

Albel didn't know when he fell asleep, but as soon as his eyes closed, a dream immediately formed in his mind. His tormented mind didn't send him another nightmare this time, but rather a sweet dream that consisted of him towering over a small, slender red head and kissing her senseless. Suddenly, something jolted him awake. His gaze fell to his lap where he found a pillow that should have been underneath Nel's head. He shifted his line of sight toward the bed where a pair of deep green eyes stared back at him. She had thrown her pillow at him! She couldn't help but laugh at the bewildered look on his face and tried to hold it in. The sight of her biting her lower lip refreshed the images of the dream, causing him to look away in case it wasn't dark enough for her to not see the tint of red appearing on his cheeks.

"What was that for?" he asked once she calmed down. He had meant to sound menacing, but the sound of her laughter was too distracting.

"You were moaning in your sleep, so I thought you were having one of those nightmares Fayt and Cliff warned me about."

"Bah," he responded as he threw the pillow back at her. Since he refused to look at her, his aiming was off and the pillow ended up hitting the edge of the bed and fell onto the floor. Nel pushed back the covers, revealing short sleeved cotton pajamas that one of the maggots had let her borrow, and stretched before leaning over the edge to pick it up. She then noticed that it was freezing in the room. How could anyone, even someone who was called wicked, expect to sleep in these conditions and in a chair no less? Ever since he started acting a little nicer to her, she had began to respect him and even cared about his well-being, but what she was about to suggest didn't sit well with her and was certainly not going to be agreeable for him either.

"It's pretty cold in here, maybe we should swallow our pride and just share the bed for tonight," she suggested. She could have sworn she saw a flushed face as he swerved the chair so his back was facing her.

"No…" Nel ignored the threatening tone in his voice. She deduced that the flushed features meant that he was running a fever. If he was getting sick then she really had to get him in bed.

"But it's-"

"Unlike you, I am used to freezing weather so I'll be fine," he interrupted.

"Oh famous last words coming from the Glyphian whose currently shivering!" she snapped back.

"Just go back to sleep, Nel."

It surprised her that he was trying to give up so early in an argument. Then again he had been full of surprises lately. She took a deep breath and thought over her next words carefully. Maybe he will listen to diplomacy. He usually didn't before, but since he's been acting strange, there could be a chance he would.

"Listen Nox, if you promise to stay on one side of the bed, I'll promise to stay on my side and then tomorrow morning I'll go ask if I can stay with Maria or Sophia or something. Okay?"

"Or you can go to sleep and let me be."

"Albel, you're going to get sick!" she warned.

"And why do _you_ care?" was his retort. That made her stop and think.

"I-I…" Why _did_ she care? If someone was stubborn enough to not listen to her, then she'd usually let them do as they please and then give out a smug 'I told you so' look when they got into trouble. She was so wrapped up in trying to find an answer that she didn't realize Albel had turned around to face her.

"Well?" he prodded with a look of interest. She snapped out of it and shook her head.

"Look, if you get sick, then you would hold everybody back and I know you don't want that to happen," she said as she crossed her arms. He huffed and turned away from her again. She was about to let out a sigh of annoyance and considered forcing him to take a sleeping draught until he suddenly muttered, "_Fine_."

She watched in amazement as he placed his Crimson Scourge against a corner, unbuckled his claw, and then pulled off his boots. She immediately stopped gawking and made room for him when he approached. The bed was made for one person, but it was wide enough for two people if they slept side by side. Soon they were both settled under the covers, lying on their sides with their backs to each other and sharing the same pillow. They were at least an inch away from each other and their combined body heat soon warmed them up. It took a while for either one of them to slip into oblivion because they were worried about accidentally brushing up against each other.

"Sweet dreams, Albel," she mumbled before exhaustion took over her body.

"Whatever…" It took longer for him to finally relax, but when his eyes closed, he mused about how she didn't have weapons hidden in there after all.

It was a known fact that bodies tend to attract to heat unconsciously, especially when their surroundings are bitter cold. So when the lights came on in every room in the Diplo to wake everyone up, Albel and Nel shouldn't have been so surprised to wake up clinging to each other. At first they let their eyes adjust until they realized they were holding each other and sprang apart, both blushing furiously. An uncomfortable silence hung heavy in the air as Albel rolled out of bed, grabbed his boots, and sat down in the chair. Nel was still worried that he was coming down with something since he didn't even try to blame her.

He was finished putting on his boots and was pulling his claw on his metal hand when he heard her ask in a quiet voice, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," he reassured with his usual threatening tone while he picked up the Crimson Scourge and tied it to his belt. He then faced the door and was about to leave until he realized Nel was standing in front of him, blocking his escape.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she brought her hand up to feel his forehead. He snatched her wrist with his good hand before she could touch the black blonde bangs that shielded his face.

"I said I'm fine, Zelpher!" he yelled venomously. She only glared at him with the same level of anger as he. In the blink of an eye, Nel slid her free hand under his bangs and pressed her cool palm against his forehead.

"You're awfully warm," she said as her anger was replaced with worry. Her hand continued to linger there and was slowly trailing down to his cheek as he had yet another battle with his urges. There was only so much Albel the Wicked could take and having Nel standing so close to him with her hand lightly caressing his cheek and her wrist caught in his own hand was too much. His control slipped as he let go of her wrist and pressed his lips against hers, giving her enough freedom to pull away if she wanted to.

To say Nel was stunned was an understatement. She stared back wide eyed at Albel's closed eyelids, not daring to move a muscle. She should have backed away, but her body protested. Her eyes eventually closed and both of her hands traveled behind his neck to play with his braids. After sensing that she was not going to back away, he wrapped his clawed arm around her waist to pull her closer and deepen the kiss while his good hand got tangled in her already messy hair. All it took was a clicking sound and a flash of light to pull them apart.

"See I told you, Cliff" Mirage said smugly as she examined the picture she had just taken in her small hand-held camera, "It's a good thing you didn't have a hunch that you'd win the bet otherwise this would have been the second time you were wrong."

"Give it rest would ya," Cliff muttered with a sour look in his face as he leaned beside the doorframe next to her. When the worms finally remembered where they were, they glanced at Albel and Nel sheepishly. Nel only stared back at them, dazed and confused while Albel looked absolutely murderous.

"Scar-ee…" Cliff commented as Mirage hid the camera behind her back.

"We only came to tell you that the heater is operational and that we are going to start it up now," Mirage explained as they slowly backed away from the door. The larger maggot took the camera and chuckled at the picture it displayed before the door closed.

"I know two little brats whose names start with a 'P' and a 'R' who would _love_ to see this!" was heard followed by the sound of two people running for their dear lives.

Nel regained her wits as Albel continued to glare at the closed door. Her hands had moved to his shoulders and his arm was still around her waist. Ignoring the previous interruption, she moved her hand so she could touch her now puffy lips.

"…Albel?" He switched his gaze to her, the hard glare softened a little.

"What was…that all about?"

He knew she was talking about the kiss and not about the intruding maggots. He had a feeling that this conspiracy had gone on long enough so there was no point in trying to avoid it.

"…Ever since we left Elicoor, I've found that I have…grown fond of you…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say next. What he had said just then was still enough to make her mind go numb.

"A-are you trying to say…that you love me?" He didn't respond, but the fact that his face reddened as he looked away was enough to confirm an answer. Albel the Wicked was in love with her? It didn't seem possible. They were from two different kingdoms that were previously at war. And even though they are now at peace, she still couldn't forget all the friends who lost their lives to the man beside her. But then again…how many of his soldiers had fallen by her blades? After she got to know him, she noticed they had a lot in common and although she never wanted to admit it, she had been paying more attention to Albel than anyone else as of late. And then there was that kiss. It was her first kiss and it felt so right considering that it was with someone who she thought was her enemy. It struck her like lightning as she realized something. She had been in love with Albel Nox this whole time and didn't even know it.

They were both been quiet for a long time. Albel considered leaving so he could give her time alone to think things through. But as he was about to remove his claw from around her waist, he felt her leaning closer to him and watched as she rested her head on his chest.

"…I love you too…" Her response made him look down at her in complete shock.

"Are you sure you can love a monster like me?"

"You're not a monster," she smiled gently, "You are a human who lives just like any other human whether it's during war or peacetime."

"Heh…" he smirked, satisfied with her reply as his lips brushed against her forehead. Nothing more was said between the happy Elicoorians as they simply enjoyed each other's company. But soon they remembered that there were two fools running around the ship with a picture of them kissing. Their dignity was at stake.

"Shouldn't we go after those worms?" Nel wondered as she looked up at him. A wide, wicked grin graced his features.

"You've read my mind, but…" he trailed off while staring lower on her body. She tilted her head in confusion.

"What?"

"Are you planning to go out there looking like that?" he gestured to the pajamas and her messy hair.

His answer was a slap on the chest.

The End

Thanks for reading my first and probably only SO3 fic. I can't promise any sequels or new stories, but if something else pops up in my head, I'll write it down. Oh yeah, and before I forget, I do not own SO3 and I don't have any money...wow...that made me depressed...(grabs an Albel plushie and squeezes it) Now I feel better, C ya!


End file.
